Onome Amuge
O3 Capital (“O3”), a leading Nigerian fintech and the country’s first non-bank credit card issuer, has launched a new multi-currency travel card aimed at capturing a growing pool of inbound spending from returning Nigerians and foreign visitors, as the country seeks to improve payment convenience and deepen economic participation during the peak festive travel season.
The Blink Travel Card, unveiled this week, is designed to eliminate long-standing frictions in Nigeria’s foreign exchange and payments landscape by allowing travellers to load funds from any foreign bank card and convert them instantly into naira. Available in both virtual and physical formats, the product enables tap-to-pay transactions and cash withdrawals across more than 40 million card-accepting merchants and ATMs nationwide.
O3 Capital is positioning Blink as a tool that addresses the limited ability of visitors to transact in naira without carrying large volumes of cash, and the absence of interoperable spending tools that link foreign accounts to local rails in real time, two persistent challenges in the domestic payments market.
The launch comes as Nigeria enters its heaviest travel period of the year, driven largely by members of the diaspora returning home for Christmas and New Year. According to World Bank estimates, diaspora remittances represent roughly 5.6 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP, with a sizeable share of that financial power translating into retail consumption when returning migrants spend domestically. Industry data indicate that inbound visitors injected about N95 billion into the economy during December 2024, with diasporic Nigerians accounting for nine out of ten arrivals.
Spending is concentrated in accommodation, dining, hospitality, events, nightlife, and vehicle rentals, sectors where cash-heavy transactions have often deterred higher-value purchases from short-term visitors. O3 Capital believes the Blink Card will help unlock additional seasonal flows by reducing dependence on bureau-de-change outlets, manual cash handling, and informal FX conversions.
The product also appears calibrated to benefit local SMEs, many of which have struggled to capture diaspora spending due to the absence of flexible payment acceptance infrastructure. By offering digital loading, instant transfers to local banks, and compatibility with routine merchant POS systems, Blink could broaden the commercial reach of smaller businesses during a period that many rely on for annual revenue stability.
Travellers can obtain the physical card directly at Nigeria’s international airports, a distribution strategy designed to capture user adoption at the point of arrival. The virtual version, accessible via the O3Cards app, enables spending even before visitors leave the terminal.
Abimbola Pinheiro, chief executive officer of O3 Capital, said: “We are excited to launch the Blink Card to promote greater economic participation among visitors to Nigeria. The card removes the needless friction and costs involved in legacy foreign exchange and cash payment processes, offering a quicker and more transparent option for spending in the country.
“As Nigerians begin traveling home for Christmas – combined with the regular traffic of arriving tourists, expatriates, and businesspeople – this is the perfect time to launch a solution catering to the financial needs of visitors, tapping into the seasonal spending boom which provides an annual lifeline for local economies and SMEs.”
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Beyond the festive boom, O3’s move highlights intensifying competition in Nigeria’s financial services sector, particularly as fintech firms seek to fill gaps left by banks in servicing international travellers and cross-border consumers. Regulatory constraints, scarcity of FX liquidity, and operational bottlenecks have historically made it difficult for banks to offer seamless international-to-domestic payment instruments.
O3 Capital has expanded rapidly over the past few years, building a reputation for card-led innovation. It was the first Nigerian company outside the banking system to issue credit cards and has since developed a suite of international payment products for consumers and SMEs. The Blink launch is positioned as part of an initiative to consolidate the company’s presence in a niche where demand continues to outpace supply.
